Alaska Airlines Implements New Ground Air Units, Retrofits 737s With Winglets to Conserve Fuel and Reduce Emissions

-- Employing more satellite-based navigation. Since 1996, Alaska Airlines has pioneered a technology called Required Navigation Performance. RNP enables aircraft to fly more direct routes with pinpoint accuracy and reduce diversions due to weather by using onboard navigation technology and the Global Positioning System satellite network. The airline uses RNP at remote and geographically challenging airports throughout the state of Alaska , as well as in Portland, Ore. ; San Francisco ; Palm Springs, Calif. ; and at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.

-- Using lighter-weight catering carts. Since retrofitting all of its aircraft with lighter-weight carts in September 2006 , the airline has saved nearly 300,000 gallons of fuel annually.

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air together serve 94 cities through an expansive network in Alaska , the Lower 48, Hawaii , Canada and Mexico . For reservations, visit http://alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Newsroom at http://alaskaair.com/newsroom.

SOURCE Alaska Airlines